Phew…
Never in my life had I let out a bigger sigh of relief. After using Vanir, my body materialized in the Thorns Complex halls, this was where the Anti-Nexi field began again.
I was forced to slowly walk to my room on the second floor, my legs trembling from exhaustion.
Still, I was happy. I had put on a fine performance.
The members of F-4 would now work together to defeat me, at least that's what I hoped. The plan now was to host training activities every so often and interact with them in a way that didn't sully my reputation as a confident leader.
I've managed to gauge two of their anomalies, the ones belonging to Elena and that adventurer-looking guy. Not once in that entire fight did I see Elena using a Nexi; in fact, I've never seen her use a Nexi. Those powers seem to be coming straight from her, but how?
I began thinking to distract myself from the fact that my legs were about to collapse. Had that fight drawn out even a second, I would've been in trouble!
That adventurer-looking guy, whom I assume to be either Baldwin or Moral, didn't chant his Nexi's name like normal people do. He did chant them, but a command followed afterwards. His Nexi also seems fundamentally different from any I've seen before, more solid and less illusory….
Interesting…
Before I knew it, I found myself in front of my door, which was already ajar. With a light push, it flew open to reveal Wellan's figure standing there.
"Brilliantly done," He praised, twirling another golden yellow card in his fingers.
Just how many tier IIIs does this man have! I thought as I collapsed on the bed, almost smiling at how seamlessly I had transitioned from barely knowing about the existence of tier IIIs to seeing a new one by the hour.
"Is there something you need from me?" Wellan wouldn't come to me just to chat, he had to have some ulterior motive.
He shook his head and yawned, "That's actually the question I came here to ask you. A few of my bosses really liked that performance of yours, it put into perspective how much stronger you could get if you put the effort in. Therefore, they wanted to know if there's anything they can do to make you more inclined towards this mission."
My first thought was to ask them to make sure Gelda was safe, but I wasn't sure if they knew about her, and I didn't trust the Thorns enough to reveal that information if they didn't.
Officially, I had no ties to Gelda besides a few police reports, so there would be no way for them to make the connection between us.
I could only think of the mission and furthering my act.
"I want all the information you have about the other members of F-4, a notebook, and a pen."
Wellan nodded and made a stack of papers appear in his hands before placing them in my drawer. "I always keep a copy on me. As for the notebook and pen, just ask Orielle at the front desk. She probably has some lying around."
With that, the Thorns officer disappeared.
As I was about to go to sleep, a thought flashed in my mind.
What do you mean, "If I put the effort in"? I've been fighting with all my might, thank you very much!
Despite that, I understood what Wellan was talking about. Back when I was fighting the Executioner, I had done something I had never done before; I teleported something that wasn't my body.
Half out of curiosity and half out of a nagging feeling to prove to Wellan wrong, I summoned Vanir to my hand.
The technique needed to teleport something that wasn't my body wasn't very hard to figure out, as I had already done it once. I injected my will into Vanir without chanting the corresponding incantation.
The world was slowly filled with dark mist as my eyes stopped seeing color and my head became light. I pushed past my lightheadedness and endured the feeling for a few more seconds, suddenly I could see colorless spots of light.
Each corresponded to a different object in the room. One was attached to the different components of the bed, one was attached to the stack of papers in my drawer, one was attached to my lamp, etc.
I willed the speck of light corresponding to the stack of notes Wellan had given me to fly into my open palm. It slowly glided towards me, every second of the process making my head feel lighter and lighter. When the speck of light was in my palm, I chanted the incantation corresponding to my Nexi.
My vision returned to normal as I felt the papers in my hands. My head was aching from the entire procedure but I pressed on, turning my attention to the stack of papers.
"Project Failure-4, F-4 by Wellan Degenarus:
"In the past few months, excluding Elena Grace of Experiment 677, six new anomalies have been found by the Thorns of Justice and associates: Baldwin Windeom, Moral Deneras, Madam Shehera, Velsa Mader, Gigan Erel, and Denzel Nightingale. Inspired by F-1, 2, and 3, I've convinced the higher-ups to attempt using anomalies once more. This time, preparations have been made to avoid the mistakes of F-1 to 3.
"The investigations of the North Gelden Nexi hiest and — will be placed in their hands. Success rate has been estimated to be a little over 60%.
"What follows is everything known about the members of F-4.
"Elena Grace: She's the member we are the most familiar with, as she is a creation of ours. Original name, Melanie Grace, she is the result of Experiment 677, a Thorns experiment dedicated to combining humans with Nexi to create a Nexi-Human hybrid. Out of the 600 subjects, she is the only one to survive. She corresponds to Tier II Nexi Ombra; check Knight-level clearance documents for more details.
"Baldwin Windeom: He is a mental asylum escapee who claims to have escaped by 'hearing the voices' of the Nexi known as Tier I Zereform and Tier I Alia. His affinity for those Nexi is close to inhuman, as he claims to have never felt the negative effects of Nexi. Occasionally, I'll hear voices coming from his room, but they fade when I try listening too hard or investigating. His situation is a special one, but not something I'm unfamiliar with.
"Moral Deneras: His resources and connections rival those of a high-ranking member of the Thorns, and his ability to find Nexi is close to unrivaled. From what we've gathered, he has more than 20 Tier I in his possession and somewhere around 5 Tier II; he might also have a Tier III, though I heavily doubt it. We've managed to associate him with the Heads of Hydra and other criminal organizations, but his exact relation with them is unknown. After Denzel Nightingale and Madam Shehera, he is the most mysterious member of F-4.
"Velsa Mader: Businesswoman known for her criminal activity, but there is no proof for it. Any investigations show that her money comes from her many clothing and perfume companies. Related to the Delarus couple. In possession of three Tier I Ice Class Nexi,
"Gigan Erel: A half-giant from the south. Gigan has demonstrated superhuman levels of strength and durability, he's also one of the few people known to speak and understand the language written on Nexi.
"Madam Shehara: Nothing besides what she's told us is known about her. Last name: ???, Origin:???, Nexi: ???. All we know is she's part of a certain organization she refuses to name, she's from off continent, the helmet she wears refuses to come off, and her Nexi are all Sand or adjacent Classes.
"Denzel Nightingale: In my opinion, he's the most dangerous of them all. Never before has an unidentifiable Nexi been found, yet he found one in a dumpster. I don't trust anything about him, nothing about him makes sense. There are no records of his birth in Deci, Cahir, Seren, or the South. His name only appears every few years in a police or hospital report. If it wasn't for the fact that Truelala had confirmed his real name is Denzel, I wouldn't believe him. Denzel, I know you're reading this right now, so I just want to tell you:
"Watch yourself, I'm watching you. The second you try to harm the Thorns, I will end your life."
Bdum, Bdum.
I could hear my heart slam against my ribcage. Wellan's warning had turned red and seemed to burn itself into my eyes, I could hear his voice boom in my ears.
I understood why he had given me this document so easily, it was to give me a warning. Even when alone, I was being watched.
Sigh, that means escaping will be that much harder. Doesn't matter to much, I expected this. I'll just have to be a little more diligent when it comes to my escape plan, can't afford any mistakes…
My heart rate gradually lowered, seeing as Wellan's warning didn't mean much. I had no ill intent toward the Thorns; I was just worried about Gelda and didn't trust them enough to tell them about it.
I could return right after; all that mattered was that I made sure Gelda was safe.
For now, though, act sleep repeat… I thought, falling back into bed.
…
Only the next day did I finally have the energy to get out of bed. My legs were still sore from the day before, but I had to keep up appearances and pretend to be unfazed.
"Just a little more," I motivated myself, jumping out of bed and grabbing a towel provided to me by a Thorns officer. I opened my door and looked into the hall that made up this Complex's second floor, trying to remember what I had been told about its layout.
Four showers, two for the men and two for the women… The information flashed in my mind as I made my way to the first door to my right. Opening it, I was hit with a huge wave of steam.
"Sorry!" Baldwin said, a towel wrapped around his waist and another around his long blond hair. He had a slightly crazed smile glued onto his lips.
"You're excused," I said, shocked that someone had arrived before me but trying to hide it. "Are you done, or do I need to wait for you to finish?"
"No, no, I'm done," The former mental patient said, patting my shoulder as he walked past me.
He smiles too much… I thought as hot water fell on my skin, soothing the aching in my legs.
After freshening up and getting dressed, I made my way to the bottom floor to claim the notebook and pen I had previously requested.
To be honest, I was a little anxious about how I would be treated by this "Orielle" lady. Up til now, with the exception of the surprisingly kind Elena, every Thorns official had shown me a level of distrust or animosity; Wellan with his initial torture and his warnings, my guide never really letting me out of his sight, and the officials I met throughout my day throwing glances my way.
It didn't bother me, but it was a little annoying to be treated like I was some roach that would escape at the first chance given. I was, but they didn't know that.
That's why I was surprised when the relatively young lady at the front desk smiled at me.
"You must be Denzel, I'm Orielle Flera. Pleasure to meet you!" She introduced herself with a gentle tone, as if she were talking to a person and not a rat in a human's body. It was disorientating.
"H-hi, you know my name?" I asked, noticing that she knew it even though this was our first meeting.
"Well, of course I know it, I am the one who put your information in the system. I read the report Wellan made about you, don't mind him too much. He seems harsh on the outside, but he's a nice guy."
I let out a dry laugh, finding her words hard to believe as the first thing Wellan had done to me was torture me.
"Anyways," She asked, adjusting her auburn hair and widening her smile naturally, "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Yeah, I was wondering if I could borrow a pen and notebook. Just to write things in so I don't forget."
The young receptionist nodded and bent down, looking in the desk drawers for the items I had requested.
"Frankly, I'm not too sure if we still have spare notebooks buuuuuut…" She slammed a pink leather-bound notebook on the desk. "I bought this one a while back but never got around to using it, I wouldn't mind giving it to you." She pushed the notebook closer to me.
"What?" Her words were clear and understandable, they weren't the source of my confusion.
She offered to give me a notebook she had bought with her own money, if I took it, that would be the second gift I had received in the past few days. In the past three years, the only gifts I had received were ass-beatings and bloody noses.
"Thanks…" I finally managed, taking the pink notebook and pen offered to me.
"You're welcome!" She beamed, I couldn't sense a sliver of distrust in her eyes. Why was she looking at me like that? Why was she looking at me like I was normal?
Must be something in the air… I lampooned, but deep down I had been touched.
Two gifts, given without any ulterior motive. The thought was enough to make me smile.